The country's seaports have been choked to their capacity to pile up more imported cargo containers as the goods transporters strike enters the fifth consecutive day, harbours sources said on Saturday. Over the last five days, imported cargo containers are being stockpiled at the harbours as transporters have refused to supply them out of the ports. The seaports have fallen short of space to allow more cargo to pile up until the existing stocks are transported, they said.
"Some 31,000 cargo containers have been piled up at all four terminals of the both seaports due to the goods transporters' strike," Senior Vice Chairman, All Pakistan Customs Agent Association (APCAA), Arshad Jamal told Business Recorder, blaming the Sindh government for the chaos. He said that harbours have become congested to store more imported containers.
"Karachi Port is facing problems from dwindling space at yards from imported cargo congestion as transportations are unenviable to supply the containers from harbour to warehouses and upcountry," an official of Karachi Port Trust told Business Recorder, hoping the situation will improve to end the seaport congestion with resumption of cargo transportations during the next week.
"Strike stands firm," Spokesman for Pakistan Goods Transporters Alliance, Aga Jawad Raza told Business Recorder, saying that "there is progress on the issues resolution despite rounds of talks with the Sindh government ministers". He said that the Sindh High Court has adjourned the hearing until May 20 with no verdict to reverse the ban decision.
Arshad Jamal lambasted the Sindh government for letting the chaos erupt with an inevitable strike by the goods transporters, saying that "the Sindh government has failed to develop an exclusive alternative route for the heavy traffic". He said that the APCAA is filing a petition against the Sindh government on next Monday in the court for not establishing an alternative route for heavy traffic.
"The Sindh government has piled up billions of rupees from collecting an infrastructure cess imposed on transportation of import and export cargoes but spent not a single penny to develop routes for the heavy traffic," he said " Lyari Expressway is the exclusive alternative route, which stands shabby and incomplete to support the heavy traffic movements".
He also asked the Sindh government to ban other heavy traffic including water tankers on the city's roads. The Sindh government has banned only cargo carriers in the city according to the Sindh High Court orders and let the same size of vehicles ply on roads unchecked.
He said the country is losing billions due to transporters' strike, halting exports and stuck imported containers at the harbours. Arshad urged the federal government to relax custom duty to permit import of heavy vehicles meeting the globally environmental standards. "If the strike ends by this minute, cargo congestion will take one month to clear at harbours," he said.
Transporters began their strike against the Sindh High Court's orders banning the heavy traffic entry into the city around the clock. The goods transporters now seek a relief from the court. Exporters reckon at least Rs 6 billion of loss they face every day because of the strike that also slowed down supplies of essential commodities to the metropolis and elsewhere in the country.
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